Stanley Tools Stanlo L500 Modular Metal Construction Set, 1930s antique hip flask They are made of turned

They are made of turned and painted wood with colorful chromolithographed paper decoration and tapered "legs" screwed to wood bases

3/4"long  x 1/2"

and most definitely it was made quite some time ago with a great deal of care--the wire stitching alone on this piece is quite a spectacular thing: carefully braided along one edge of the bristles

As I've noted elsewhere

Stanley Tools Stanlo L500 Modular Metal Construction Set, 1930s antique hip flask They are made of turnedI'm not especially good at envisioning elaborate structures to build with legos and the like, but the fantastic colors and design of this c. 1930s Stanlo set made it way too cool to pass by. I've learned there were a number of different Stanlo sets produced, including at least one that featured a motor all preceding the Erector set. Apparently, they never quite caught on, and now are pretty rare to find after spending a little time building with this